Speakers shed light on gender-based violence

Speakers at a programme discussed and expressed concern over incidents related to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) across the country, in city’s Gulshan area on Wednesday.

The national dissemination event was organised to inform about the progress of a project titled “ASTHA- Strengthening Access to Multi-sectoral Public Services for Survivors of GBV” where Ummey Kulsum, joint secretary of Law and Justice Division was present as the chief guest.

The project was designed to ensure access to multi-sectoral public response services for the survivors of GBV and establish rights against gender-based violence (GBV) with a wide range of concern on child marriage, rape, intimate partner violence, domestic and dowry-related violence.

The ASTHA project has already been implemented in 102 unions under 12 upazilas of 4 districts of Bangladesh - Jamalpur, Patuakhali, Bogura and Cox’s Bazar, said a press release.

Under this project, a total of 20,394 courtyard meetings, 1,836 women support group meetings, 504 couple meetings, 11 theater shows, 309 video shows and 50 awareness sessions have been organized to increase community outreach and raise awareness about gender-based violence.

Guests and senior officials of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the implementing partners of the project ‘ASTHA’ - Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), Shushilan, Sabalamby Unnayan Samity (SUS), Gana Unnayan Kendra (GUK) and Young Power in Social Action (YPSA), shared their experiences about the concerns related to gender-based violence at the event.

Besides, people from the filed level also shared their experiences where a video documentary portraying everything about ASTHA project was screened.